Saturday, November 24, 2007

Storm Track Disinformation: Pre-Islamic State Given Medal of Democracy Award

Get your barf bag ready for this piece of blatant disinformation that I’ve read in along time. Tell the Big Lie often enough and the world will believe it. Indonesia has won an award. The award is, get ready for this, their unique blend of democracy and Islam.

INDONESIA has been hailed for proving that Islam and democracy can co-exist by establishing and maintaining the only functioning democracy in South-East Asia.

Indonesia's people and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were yesterday awarded the Democracy Medal by the International Association of Political Consultants. Before delegates in Bali and most of his cabinet, Dr Yudhoyono said Indonesia had transformed itself in less than a decade and would never return to repression.

Although sceptics had claimed Indonesia would splinter or radicalise, "the heart and soul of Indonesia remains moderate and progressive", Dr Yudhoyono said. "In Indonesia democracy, Islam and modernity go hand in hand.

What apiece of tripe! Let’s first look at the award. Who gave it? The International Association of Political Consultants. And who are they? International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC) was founded in 1968 by U.S. consultant Joseph Napolitan and French consultant Michel Bongrand.

Working with former Democratic Party chairman Lawrence O Brien, Napolitan had his first foreign election experience in the 1969 presidential campaign of Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippine dictator who, supported by five U.S. presidents, held power for 20 years. Napolitan also served as advisor to Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez(Bonner, 1987, p. 76; Bowler and Farrell, 2000, p. 162; Napolitan, 1999, pp. 24-25). Both heads of state were forced out of office following massive corruption charges, which raises questions about Napolitan’s and other consultants respect for ethical codes in their overseas employment.

So much for the credibility of the IAPC. But that aside, how could the IAPC ignore these?

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono has pursued a policy of winning hearts and minds, persuading young Indonesians that extremism and radicalism have no place in Indonesian society.

And how well has he been ‘winning hearts and minds’?

As Reuters reported back in October, just 10 percent of Indonesian Muslims said they backed jihad and supported bomb attacks on the island of Bali aimed at foreign tourists. But Indonesia is home to more than 200 million Muslims, so while 10 percent may sound like a small number percentage-wise, it is actually quite large in absolute terms. It means there are some 20 million Muslims in Indonesia alone who are willing to say out loud that they support the use of violence and terror against innocent human beings.

More than two-thirds of Indonesians favor the country's current secular system of law, according to a privately funded nationwide survey by the Indonesian Survey Circle, a pollster. If that seems like good news, read it this way: This means there are "only" about 82 million Indonesians who favor Shariah. Approximately 216 million out of Indonesia's approximately 246 million inhabitants, or nearly nine-tenths of the population, are Muslims. And while Indonesia's religious and cultural climate is justifiably regarded as moderate in comparison to much of the rest of the Muslim world -- and its government is a very useful ally against terrorism -- the numbers still leave plenty of room for concern.

Just over two-thirds of respondents disapprove of the death penalty for those who renounce Islam, according to the survey, which was first reported by Rupert Murdoch's www.news.com.au. More than three-quarters of Indonesians disapprove of mandatory head scarves. Nearly two-thirds oppose stoning for adultery. More than 75 percent are against severing the hands of thieves. When the aggregate numbers of people are factored in, the study looks considerably more disturbing. If one-quarter of Indonesians favor cutting off the hands of thieves, it suggests that upwards of 60 million Indonesians favor the practice. If roughly 164 million Indonesians oppose stoning adulterers, it means that more than 80 million favor doing so.

Shouting "Allah is great", and waving black and white flags, about 80,000 members of the radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir gathered in a sports stadium in Jakarta yesterday to call for the creation of a Muslim state spanning the Islamic world.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in several countries, including France, Germany and the Netherlands, has a strong following in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim state. Delegates at the Bung Karno Stadium had also come from Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

So, what kind of award do you think Indonesia should have received?

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